Monday, August 26, 2013

Mon Aug 26th Todays News

Worldwide the issue of Syria and the use of chemical weapons is on the news. Syria denied access to UN inspectors for five days. Making it difficult forSyria to prove it isn't responsible, but allowing Syria to sanitise the crime. Fingers are pointing between Syria and Islamic extremists. In Egypt recently, Brotherhood members were accuse of killing their own people and accusing the government of violence. The only thing certain is that the victims weren't deserving of their fate. But the UN, Obama and Australia are joined in dithering over the issue. Meanwhile Israel produces much needed medical aid. Another worldwide issue that reaches into Australia is the drugs in sport issue. Early in 2013, in a desperate attempt to deflect from Federal incompetence on all issues, Home Secretary Jason Clare announced that organised crime and performance enhancing drugs were pervasive in Australia's top sporting codes of NRL and AFL. Since the announcement, despite intensive testing and investigation, no one has been charged in regards to those issues. It is alleged some players have been offered passes if they admitted to their use of such drugs, but if that is true all have declined. In the US, baseball player A-Rod has apparently admitted to using human growth hormone when it was legal, and is now appealing a sentence which similarly looks more political than sports related. Jason Clare's glaring failure is similarly evident in all areas of ALP government. The conservative have launched their campaign and ALP polling figures have nosedived with few exceptions. It is unclear if PM Rudd will hold his own seat. Get Up! has been caught out suggesting highly partisan ALP supporters call themselves undecided in order to skew polls. But nothing could really be said to be strange when the PM can call off the campaign for a day to attend a media conference about cooking. Julian Assange is trying to be stranger. Cate Blanchet is defying gravity. I wish them all luck, and hope the conservatives win, and those victims of chemical attack avenged.
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Dennis Melo Noren, Charles Anderson and Langelo Nguyen. Born on the same day, across the years, as Ferdinand II of Naples (1469), Robert Walpole (1676), Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (1940), Antoine Lavoisier (1743), Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom (1819), Mary Ann Nichols (1845), Arthur James Arnot (1865), Peggy Guggenheim (1898), Mother Teresa (1910) and Yang Yilin (1992). On your day, National Heroes' Day in the Philippines (2013); Women's Equality Day in the United States1789 – French Revolution: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, defining a set of individual and collective rights of the people, was approved by the National Constituent Assembly.1883 – A massive eruption destroyed the volcanic island of Krakatoa, ejecting so much ash that average global temperatures fell by as much as 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) over the next year.1928 – At a cafe in Paisley, Scotland, May Donoghue found the remains of a snail in her bottle of ginger beer, causing her to launch one of the landmark civil action cases in British common law, Donoghue v Stevenson.1970 – Betty Friedan and the National Organization for Women organized the Women's Strike for Equality in New York City, in which 20,000 women protested the continuing lack of gender equality.2008 – More than a week after a ceasefire was reached in the South Ossetia war, Russia unilaterally recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. You have your rights. In the turmoil, there is opportunity. A snail in the glass is too slow. We want equality now. Your independence, hard fought, is assured. Party on.
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Tim Blair – Monday,August 26,2013 (4:45pm)

Jon Faine’s show this morning, The Drum at 6pm (Tuesday), Q & A tonight … British MP and freelance Kevin Rudd campaigner Tom Watson is smashing his way through the ABC like a tsunami with a stomach. The Murdoch-obsessed parliamentary Pac-Man is out here on charity money:

Tim Blair – Monday,August 26,2013 (12:29pm)

Tim Blair – Monday,August 26,2013 (4:30am)

In an unprecedented move for a Prime Minister seeking re-election, Kevin Rudd announced on Saturday morning that he would suspend campaigning in order to deal with a crucial issue of global importance.

“I regard it as a necessary practical step to make sure that we are fully briefed on developments,” Rudd said, holding the running sheet for that afternoon’s shooting of Kitchen Cabinet with Annabel Crabb.

“I have sought, during the course of the last 24 hours, to remain across these things,” he continued, as top level aides scrambled to obtain precisely the correct ingredients for Rudd’s chicken and mushroom risotto.

Tim Blair – Monday,August 26,2013 (4:14am)

Actors have eerie powers. Just ask Cate Blanchett, who in 2010 described the awesome abilities of people who in between roles usually serve coffee or file grant applications:

“We process experience and make experience available and understandable. We change people’s lives, at the risk of our own. We change countries, governments, history, gravity and after gravity, culture is the thing that holds humanity in place, in an otherwise constantly shifting and, let’s face it, tiny outcrop in the middle of an infinity of nowhere.”

Changing gravity is the least of their talents. According to Australian actress Naomi Watts, actors are also able tocommune with the dead. In a recent British interview, Watts – who plays Princess Diana in a soon-to-be-released film – claimed to have established some form of contact with the late royal.

As Watts explained: “I found myself constantly asking for her permission to carry on. I had saturated myself with Diana and her life and I felt this enormous responsibility of playing this iconic woman.

“It felt like I was spending a lot of time with her. There was one particular moment when I felt her permission was granted. That won’t sound right in print, I know.”

Far from it. This sounds exactly right. After all, if you had the power to inform the living universe from beyond the grave, a power previously unknown to humankind, you’d obviously use it to advise actors about the roles they should choose.

We await Diana’s tips on the midweek races. Don’t keep all the good stuff to yourself, Naomi.

Perhaps they’re unaware of comedy’s essence, described by Don Creedon, among others, as “the yawning gap between aspiration and reality”. In Rudd’s case, the aspiration was his important desire to appear as an important figure in Syria’s crisis, complete with important US presidential information and important security briefings in Canberra. Rudd gave every impression that Syria was of singular important concern, to the exclusion of all else. “I have sought, during the course of the last 24 hours, to remain across these things,” he importantly told reporters on Saturday.

The reality was that during Rudd’s aching worry over Syria he somehow found several hours to fly interstate for an appearance on Annabel Crabb’s Kitchen Cabinet. To miss a joke of this size is to miss a total solar eclipse and simultaneous volcanic eruption during the invasion of Normandy. Onliners quickly seized on the gap between Rudd’s world-saving aspiration and his crushingly mundane reality:

I’m sorry, I am completely tied up before the election I’m afraid. But good luck with it ...

So the host of a light entertainment TV show is too busy with the election to attend a comedy event, while the Prime Minister takes time out of the election campaign – and tears himself away from 24-hour monitoring of Syria – to appear on a cooking program. At least one person on the show had her priorities straight.

Tim Blair – Monday,August 26,2013 (4:00am)

Indians are not convinced Australia is a safe and welcoming place for them. An extraordinary 62 per cent said Australia was a dangerous place for Indian students. Also, most Indians apparently accepted those media reports that suggested the violence against students in Australia was motivated by prejudice – 61 per cent of respondents believe that attacks on Indian students were mostly caused by racism.

The number of Indian visitors to Australia rose by nearly eight per cent to 164,000 in the last financial year according to ABS figures and is expected to rise further when Air India begins direct flights to Sydney and Melbourne this week on Dreamliner planes.

Practice the art of conversation!
This action is our way to facilitate conversations with women in Adam’s electorate and to find out what is important to them.
Your presence will help shift votes.
Training and all support materials are provided on the day.
WHEN
September 04, 2013 at 12:30pm - 2:30pm
WHERE
Adam’s Office

The Morgan TPP is actually 52.5% to the coalition based on previous
election preferences which is standard practice. The 51.5% figure is
actually based on respondent allocated preferences which are not
necessarily representative of how people will vote on the day as many
vote via the how to vote card.

I was surprised that
the Brisbane people’s forum - allegedly comprising undecided voters -
was dominated by questions from the Left, and especially from students.
Take this one:

GABRIELLE: Good evening, my name is Gabrielle. I have a question for
both of you tonight. Handouts to businesses are both immoral and bad
economics, which party is committed to stopping the corporate welfare?

There is a lot of erasure going on of sites, so I haven’t yet been able
to verify how legitimate this is. But some explanations seem called for.
Incidentally, how often have we all mentioned that Q&A audiences
also seemed to be stacked with many more people of the Left than the
ABC claimed with its own head counts? Pretending to be conservative
seems to be quite popular.
UPDATE
I’ve seen the original screen shot. It’s true. The headline is now amended to reflect that.

FARM production could fall into recession and there are warnings that
suicide among farmers could increase as the country faces what might be
the worst drought on record…
Greens spokeswoman Christine Milne said the Government had not
recognised climate change as a significant risk when it brought down
this year’s budget.
“It just demonstrates that the Government still doesn’t understand that
more intense droughts and forces are a result of climate change,” she
said.

Julia Gillard is making absolutely sure no one can say of her what they said of Kevin Rudd during the 2010 election:

I have respectfully decided not to be present at next Sunday’s campaign
launch because I simply do not want to distract in any way from Kevin
Rudd’s powerful message to the Australian people.
I stand with all those throughout our party, and with our great
candidates, in voicing my fervent hope for a decisive Labor victory on
September 7.

Gillard has been impeccably loyal to Labor, even under a man she has ample reason to despise.

The Prime Minister has come under fire for flying home to Brisbane
yesterday to record an appearance on the ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet program,
after earlier announcing he was leaving the campaign trail to be briefed
about events in Syria.
Mr Rudd today denied announcing he had suspended his campaign, although a
transcript shows he did not dismiss a journalist’s suggestion that he
had… After recording Kitchen Cabinet in Brisbane, Mr Rudd flew to
Canberra yesterday for a briefing on Syria.

On Saturday night, the Prime Minister released a statement claiming The
Sunday Telegraph was intending to report that the Prime Minister had
delayed a national security briefing on Syria in Canberra because of a
previously arranged media commitment in Brisbane.
The statement was released prior to publication and the article
published did not state he had delayed the briefing because of his ABC
commitments…
The Prime Minister told the ABC’S Insiders program yesterday that, “Mr
Murdoch’s newspapers in many parts of the country, stated on the front
page that a national security briefing to ministers and myself was
abandoned because of other commitments I had in Brisbane. That is 100
per cent false.’’
“Had the newspaper bothered to contact my office, they would have known it was 100 per cent false.”
But News Limited did contact Mr Rudd’s office before publication and
included a response from the Prime Minister in all published articles.
It did not state on front page he had abandoned the briefing. An online
version of the story posted on the website for six minutes on Saturday
night used the term “abandon” in a headline and it was immediately taken
down as it did not reflect the story.
In a pre-emptive strike, the Prime Minister released a statement on
Saturday night, before the article was published online or in the
newspaper claiming it would argue he had delayed the Syria briefing. The
article made no such claims.

IT was the picture opportunity designed to show the Prime Minister
getting briefed on the crisis in Syria but none of the national security
officials were in the room and the Defence Minister was a ring-in.
Defence Material Minister Mike Kelly has confirmed that he attended Mr
Rudd’s Saturday night security briefing under a “succession plan’’ that
involves him taking over Defence Minister Stephen Smith’s job if the
Prime Minister wins the election…
Mr Kelly told News Corp Australia that the photos were taken in the
Prime Minister’s office because the real briefing happened in a highly
secure national security briefing in Parliament and none of the
intelligence officials who later attended would appear in the photo…
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said the picture opportunity was
organised at the request of travelling media and said it was made clear
to photographers it was not of the actual meeting. The images instead
showed Mr Rudd, his chief of staff Jim Murphy, Foreign Minister Bob
Carr, Mr Kelly and his own chief of staff.

The actual briefing included officials from Prime Minister and Cabinet,
Defence, the Office of National Assessments and was held in a secure
room in Parliament House.

The suggestion was that the Prime Minister had put off the Syria briefing so that he could record the TV show.

With all this flitting between cooking shows and briefings on Syria it’s understandable that Rudd merges the agendas:

Furthermore, when you look at statements made by the White House during
the course of yesterday, it was very plain when you have the president
of the United States receiving briefings on appropriate responses from
the international community and by the United States, a menu of responses to respond to the use of chemical weapons, I have a responsibility to make sure the Australian people are aware of that.

I’m sorry, I am completely tied up before the election I’m afraid. But good luck with it ...

So the host of a light entertainment TV show is too busy with the
election to attend a comedy event, while the Prime Minister takes time
out of the election campaign – and tears himself away from 24-hour
monitoring of Syria – to appear on a cooking program. At least one
person on the show had her priorities straight.

He is running a campaign built on
fabrications and future glory. He has been caught lying, without
compunction, on multiple occasions. This is not even the most insidious
mischief.

The government has manipulated the official statistics. It has
compromised the reputation of the Treasury. An example of the endless
spin cycle is the manipulation of the unemployment rate… The official
rate is 5.7 per cent. It has been trending up for a year… . The real
unemployment rate is higher, about 6.2 per cent according to a study by
Andrew Baker of the Centre for Independent Studies....
There are unsubtle lies, also funded by taxpayers. The government has
spent $30 million in the run-up to the election on a saturation ad
campaign stating that boat people who destroy their documents will never
be settled permanently in Australia. It is a fantasy. Since Rudd
announced that boat people will be sent to Papua New Guinea and never
see Australia, his ploy has collapsed…
Then there are the outright lies by Rudd, which he keeps repeating even
after they have been discredited: the Coalition does not have a secret
plan to increase the GST. Tony Abbott did not strip $1 billion out of
the hospital system. The opposition does not have a $70 billion deficit
in its costings. The Liberals did not do a secret deal with News
Corporation over the national broadband network… Millionaires will not
be the primary beneficiaries of Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave
scheme. The price of Vegemite is not going up 50¢ a jar.

The Age appeals for help to find those responsible for a shocking crime:

Police are searching for a violent gang that bashed a 26-year-old woman until she lost consciousness on a crowded NightRider bus in Melbourne’s city centre…
A group of six or seven men and two women boarded the bus on Swanston
Street about 2.30am and began acting aggressively. A number of concerned
passengers, including a 26-year-old St Kilda woman, appealed for the
bus driver to remove the offending group from the bus.
But before the driver could intervene, one of the women in the group
approached the St Kilda woman, threw a drink on her and then punched her
in the face. Other members of the offending group then joined in…
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

The search for the guilty (an debate on refugee policy) might have been helped had The Age not omitted a highly relevant detail about their identity. From the Herald Sun:

Transit Crime Investigation Unit detectives are investigating the
serious assault and hope to identify the offenders, who are believed to
be of African appearance, from CCTV…
The woman who started the assault, before others joined in, is African
in appearance, in her late teens or early twenties, tall, thin, with
long straight hair that is dyed brown. She was wearing a tight fitted
black and white dress with a pattern. The others in the group were
perceived to be of African appearance, police said

What is The Age - again - trying to hide? Facts that might
lead us to conclude that saving some refugees from danger means exposing
Australians to more danger themselves?
It’s not as if The Age doesn’t hype color when that suits its agenda, as when a man with Latino ancestry shoots a black youth in self-defence:

LABOR MPs have called Tony Abbott a “bully”, “political Neanderthal” and
“thug” but there’s one fight our next prime minister is dodging.
It is the culture war that had our last Liberal prime minister, John Howard, in the front lines, throwing grenades.
Not long before he became prime minister in 1996, Howard was asked on the ABC how he wanted to change Australia.

Tony Abbott tripped up
the ABC’s Fran Kelly this morning as she was mid-attack on the lack of
“equity” in his parental leave scheme, which pays women their salary
while on maternity leave - up to $75,000 for the best-paid.
Abbott asked Kelly why other Australian women should be denied a
full-wage replacement that already was paid by the ABC, as well as other
government bodies.
Er, said Kelly, because of the ... cost? (As in: the rest of the
country couldn’t afford the goodies showered on ABC staff, argues an ABC
staffer complaining about inequity of a Liberal scheme.)
But as Abbott rightly responded, cost was a different argument to equity.
Boy with a Bike crunches the numbers on one of the most expensive parental leave schemes in the country - one of the most “inequitable”:

According to this CPSU article, 18 weeks seems to be fairly common across swathes of the public sector....
Take the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
According to the last annual report, the department had:

602 staff (although this number seems very rubbery)
60.8% were female
77.2% were under 45

Total employee expenses – $109.6 million
Average employee expense based on 602 staff – $182,059 per employee
So let’s recap.
We have a department full of women at peak breeding age. They are very
highly paid – the average salary puts them in the top 1% of earners in
this country. They are entitled to possibly the most generous maternity
leave arrangements in the country as they stand today.

True, the commonwealth schemes are for 18 weeks rather than the Liberals’ planned 26. But the principle is the same.
(Thanks to reader Gab.)

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a
href="http://video.news.com.au/2402755552/ABBOTT-INTERVIEW-PART-2"&gt;VIDEO:
ABBOTT INTERVIEW PART 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
Steve Kates is as impressed as I am with Tony Abbott’s grasp of culture and political philosophy:

The interview with Tony Abbott on Andrew Bolt brought out just what I
admire about Tony Abbott so much. He has many qualities but his
intuitive understanding of the political philosophy of the
liberal-conservative side of politics is what makes this potentially one
of the great governments in our history…
Liberal and conservative. Freedom and order. And able to quote Tennyson
from memory! The tensions of government are never ending but the need to
find one’s way in the midst of the flood of events every political
leader is certain to find before them requires a sound philosophical
hold and a clear inner vision. This Tony Abbott most certainly seems to
have.

The Liberal Party’s longest serving leader, Robert Menzies, saw the
policy speech as “not just a list of promises” but an opportunity to
state his principles within a framework for governing, as he said in his
1949 policy speech.
In contrast, Abbott outlined a laundry list of promises, delivered a
series of well-worn political slogans and launched several poison-tipped
barbs at his opponents but failed to articulate where he wants to take
the nation and why…
Howard, the most successful conservative politician in the past
half-century, had a very clear set of political values, and policies to
match. In Howard’s winning 1996 policy speech, he argued that values
were as important “as bread-and-butter political commitments”. So
where’s the plan to enshrine the Coalition’s values in government?

Contrary to Labor’s “cut, cut, cut” propaganda,
Abbott has now pushed out for a full decade the timetable to reach a
series of cherished Liberal Party goals: a budget surplus of 1 per cent
of GDP, a tax system that is lower and fairer, full restoration of the
private health insurance rebate and the revival of defence spending to 2
per cent of GDP.
Reformers will brand him as far too complacent. This writer has been
talking about a two-term Abbott strategy to craft and sell his full
reform program. Correct that: substitute instead three terms heading
into a fourth.
The message could not be more obvious - Abbott has no plan to impose
harsh or abrupt change on the nation. He never has had, and claims to
the contrary always misread his character.

THE AFL’s charges
against Essendon show why the club shouldn’t be stripped of points and
kicked out of the finals - which now seems likely.
That’s a punishment you give a club that got an unfair advantage on the
field - such as by giving players banned drugs to improve performance.
But the 34 pages of allegations finally released by the AFL last week suggest it cannot prove Essendon did that.

Peter Beattie’s decision to run for the seat of
Forde reveals a man who refuses to take responsibility for the disaster
he wreaked on Queensland…
[He and Anna Bligh] grew the state capital program by 26 per cent per
year in real terms for five years from $6 billion in 2004-05 to $17bn in
2008-09, or by $57 billion in total.
Did Queenslanders get value for money? Sadly, no… Take the $9bn SEQ Water Grid, for example.
The most muddle-headed piece of that grid, the now fully decommissioned
$2.5bn Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme, had just two customers -
the Swanbank and Tarong power stations. Beattie forced these power
stations to buy western corridor recycled water for $3200 per megalitre
when the going rate for regular dam water was $380 per ML…
Having been left to clean up the mess, Campbell Newman is being cast by
Labor as the bad guy who created “a make-believe crisis, a Trojan horse
for the programs of cuts, sackings and sell-offs”. Newman is not the
first premier elected who will spend most of his watch on cleaning
duties and get no thanks from dopey opposition leaders…
Newman had no choice but to stop the unsustainable growth in the public
service wage bill, which had increased by more than $1bn in Beattie’s
last three budgets, and cut annual capital spending to realistic levels…
Thanks to Pete, the electors of Forde are $922 million worse off -
almost $12,000 per voter. This includes additional electricity charges
of $1300 per voter, including for the network overbuild, the five per
cent super profits that Beattie guaranteed to energy retailers and the
mandated Queensland Gas Scheme. Add to that $1700 per voter for the
water grid, the green schemes, the Smart State waste and the health
payroll debacle. Then there are the interest payments and the standard
cost of taxation. Those costs combined amount to $8500 per elector.

Labor and Mr Rudd ran an intense negative advertising
and political campaign against Mr Abbott last week, while the Liberals
virtually suspended television advertising to concentrate on an
advertising blitz in the last two weeks of the campaign.

How come Kevin Rudd can admit what so many journalists of the Left still cannot?:

Kevin Rudd has admitted Labor did not have a mandate to introduce the carbon tax in this term of government, conceding one of the coalition’s central lines of political attack.
Speaking on ABC TV’s Insiders programme on Sunday morning, Rudd said he
was “the first one to admit that in the past the [Labor] government has
got a number of things wrong” and he cited as an example: “I don’t think
our actions on the carbon tax were right and I changed it … We didn’t
have a mandate for it.”

Her critics claimed she had broken an ironclad election promise not to
introduce a ‘’carbon tax’’. During the election campaign she had stated:
‘’There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead, but let me be
clear: I will be putting a price on carbon and I will move to an
emissions trading scheme.’’ This is what she announced, but not as far
as those in the opposition and hysterical commentariat were concerned.

Here’s the ABC’s Annabel Crabb: “Julia
Gillard, now that she has formally abandoned herself to the reckless
pursuit of principle from which she memorably dissuaded her predecessor
just under a year ago, is looking more confident than she ever has.”
Here’s ABC presenter Jon Faine, a warmist: “I personally think anyone
who follows politics can understand how things change after you form a
minority government, you have to do deals to maintain power . . .
Politics requires that sort of change of circumstance.”
Here is The Age, a Bible of warmism: “She has had to break a somewhat
foolish pre-election promise not to introduce a carbon tax because of
the reality in which she later found herself, leading a minority
government depending on Greens and independents for survival."…
Next, here’s Lenore Taylor of The Sydney Morning Herald [now Guardian
Australia] .... “Of course while the Prime Minister had ruled out a
carbon tax during the election campaign she never ruled out an emissions
trading scheme or a carbon price, but her election policy was so crazy
and confused it’s a bit hard for her to defend.”

Yes, testimonials from a
politician’s own children tend to the sugar, and make criticism too
dangerous for all but the mean - which often makes them unfair.
That said, Tony Abbott’s daughters were a smash hit at the Liberal
launch, giving their father an introduction that would have given him
plenty more friends::

Abbott’s speech
was good, too - in that it was perfectly safe and sane, and modest in
scope. Critic proof. No need for great inspiration now. I suspect Abbott
for many voters is seeming more prime ministerial in the course of the
campaign. The gravitas is still not quite there, but the calmness,
discipline and assurance is.

More taxpayers' money down the drain.A good sign of a bad administrator is that he or she will immediately have their office redecorated, throwing out perfectly good furniture. When you see politicians changing the names of the departments, and especially changing the logo, you have to wonder what is going on.Why on earth do we have to put up with a succession of changes to the names of transport authorities and their logos?We've just seen this sort of waste in New South Wales. Just look at this logo.

The Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian has just spent over $1 million on this design of Sydney's new public transport ''brand'' - a hopping ball with a multi-coloured shadow which the Sydney morning Herald says might have been arrived at with a few strokes of a calligraphers's pen.'The minister has just spent more than $1 million in consultancy and design fees, market research and testing. This was only revealed when the State opposition did a Freedom of information search to find this out.Gladys. Berejiklian: you might as well flushed more grown $1 million down the lavatory. The appalling thing, Gladys, is that it is the taxpayer's money not yours. How many years with some taxpayers have to work to pay that amount in tax?

I support this use of money .. I point out that a responsible government which posts surpluses is not sinful with waste. I note Howard was criticised by Rudd for what Rudd called profligate spending. It is true Howard spent big on some things .. but within government means. This logo looks good and is necessary because the tired old transport .. jaded under ALP .. needs renewal. - ed
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===Help me stop the watermelonshttp://ow.ly/nCMYg
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Kevin Rudd has been caught out running a campaign built on fabrications and future glory, writes Fairfax commentator Paul Sheehan. He says Mr. Rudd has been caught lying, without compunction, on multiple occasions, which he lists.One of the Rudd and Gillard government's fabrications is to reduce unemployment which according to one think tank is running at 6.2%, something which the OECD questions.

But according to the respected Roy Morgan Research, real unemployment is up slightly to 9.7% and under-employment jumps to 9.2%. Roy Morgan survey on Australia’s unemployment and ‘under-employed’* is based on weekly face-to-face interviews of 336,232 Australians aged 14 and over between January 2007 – June 2013 and includes 4,665 face-to-face interviews in June 2013.

More Australians believe Roy Morgan unemployment estimate is ‘closer to reality’ than the ABS statistics which are relied on by both parties. Under this a person is employed if n employment for a minimum of one hour per week, which is an international standard. It is obviously unrealistic. The answer is surely to follow Roya Morgan but also to publish statistics according to the one hour measure.@profdavidflint

Domino’s employee Bryon Park, 54, had just returned to his vehicle after delivering a pizza to a room in a Days Inn motel in West Melbourne, Fla., about midnight Friday when Fredrick Lorenza Kelly Jr., 32, approached him with a large knife, the Brevard Times reports.

Design and fabrication by Casey Swanson,SD Jewelry.
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4 her
===What is the only thing that can make a Jewish mother prouder than a son who is both a lawyer and an engineer?When he joins the Israel Air Force.

“Don’t like him at all. I think he wants to create a socialist country. The people he associates with are very left-wing. One is registered as a Communist. Obama is following Marxist theory. He’s taken over the banks and the car industry. He wants the country to fail.” Andy Williams
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===You want to know what happened to the reforms that Kevin Rudd promised for the New South Wales Labor Party to get over the finding by ICAC that the powerbroker he depended on had planned to do defraud the taxpayers by the modest amount of $100 million – at least?

The answer is that apart from trying to make sure he couldn't be sacked again no matter what he did as leader, absolutely nothing has changed.

Just look at the way the party bosses decided who will represent the people of New South Wales. They hand our seats in parliament as if they own them.Remember when Mark Latham decided to parachute retired anti Labor rock star Peter Garrett into Kingsford Smith - to the great annoyance of the loyalists who worked for years in the local branches.Well, now that Peter Garrett is on the way out, the New South Wales powerbrokers have decided to play a game of chess. Apparently when they sacked the last secretary of the Labor Party, Matt Thistlethwaite, they moved him to the Senate. Now for some reason or other hee is to resign from the Senate to represent the people of Kingsford Smith in the House.

But the polls are suggesting that the Liberal candidate, the highly respected surgeon Michael Feneley is more likely to be returned.At the same time the powerbrokers have decided that the Iranian born 29-year-old secretary of the Labour Party should represent the people of NSW in the Senate. After he left Macquarie University, he worked for Labor Party spin doctors and then for the Labor Party. Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Weekend on 24 August 2013, Anne Summers quotes a close friend saying: "He's never worked outside of the ALP; he's never lost and he's never had bad media."

She says that others in the ALP referred to his hyperactivity, his trademark lack of attention, his notorious failure to return phone calls – even from members of Parliament – and his seeming inability to concentrate on just one thing at a time.And the" reformed'' New South Wales Labor Party thinks that this man, without any life experience and in most people's view, never having had a real job, is the ideal representative of the people of New South Wales.Read what Miranda Divine wrote in the Sunday Telegraph on 31 July 2013:"It's no wonder NSW Labor general-secretary Sam Dastyari wants to join the conga line of Labor apparatchiks into a cushy Senate seat. Youthful and diminutive, he is the type who insinuates himself confidently into the middle of a press pack on Budget night in Canberra's Kennedy Room, exuding an unctuous familiarity with gallery stars, to whom he leaks assiduously.

" He behaves as if he is watching himself in the mirror playing a role in House of Cards or The West Wing. His young man-on the-make persona would be endearing if he weren't so powerful, and wasn't about to be parachuted into the Senate at the ripe old age of 29. He is exactly the sort of person Labor does not need in parliament."

To understand the failure of public education in this country, one must first understand that the entire system is designed for the benefit of the adults who work in it. Union dues from people working in the system are funneled into lobbying and campaign contributions to the very legislators setting the rules of the system. As a result, the entire political system is biased against reform of public education.

Sometimes, however, the need for reform is so manifest that even these local obstacles can be overcome. Under the Obama Administration, however, opponents of reform have the ultimate "trump card." The Feds. Late this week, the Department of Justice filed a federal suit against Louisiana's school choice law. Eric Holder's office argues that allowing kids in failing public schools to attend better-performing private schools would work against its "goal" of achieving the proper racial balance in schools.

Your education may suck, in other words, but at least you are in a school with the "right" racial balance.

Louisiana passed a modest school choice, or voucher, law, a couple years ago. If a child was low-income and attended a school that graded a C or less, the student could attend a private school, with a portion of the tuition covered by the taxpayer-funded education subsidy. The state's program isn't as expansive as those in place in Holland and Sweden, but it begins to establish that the public's commitment was to educating a child, not to a particular system.

Last year, around 600 kids benefited from this program, although that number was likely to increase dramatically this year.

Unions, of course, hate the idea of giving parents a choice in how they educate their children. While education is largely still a function of state and local government, Eric Holder managed to look into his bag of legal tricks and find a way to block Louisiana's reforms.

A number of parishes (read counties) in Louisiana are under federal directive to make their public school systems more racially balanced. DOJ is concerned that giving low-income parents an opportunity to escape failing schools might alter the racial balance of the schools negatively.

Maybe it will. But, the reform the DOJ is trying to block would also give some number of kids a better chance at opportunity. The left often argues for silly laws with the rhetorical trick that if we can save "one life" shouldn't we endorse it. Fine. Why not, however, save some few hundreds of kids from a failing education system?

To fully appreciate the challenges we face, you must understand one thing. The left is only about power. Everything else they say is just rhetoric.

“This situation cannot continue. The most dangerous regimes on earth must not have the most dangerous weapons on earth, and we expect this to end,” he declared.

“What happened in Syria is a crime and a terrible tragedy,” he continued. “Our hearts are with the women, children and babies who were so cruelly hurt by weapons of mass destruction.”

Netanyahu also spoke of Israel’s current position. Terrorist groups have targeted Israel with rocket fire on the Golan and on the northern Galilee, in an apparent attempt to drag the Jewish state into the conflict.

“Our hand is on the pulse. It will act responsibly – but if it becomes necessary, we also have a finger on the trigger,” he warned.

“We know how to protect our citizens and our country from those who seek to hurt us,” he said.

Earlier Sunday, Minister of Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz predicted that the United States will have no choice but to intervene in Syria’s civil war following the chemical attack, which initial reports indicate was approved by sources high in the Assad regime.

Over the weekend the IDF reported that it is planning to station a new, more advanced warship on Israel’s naval border with Lebanon.

The first Michal Negrin shop in New York City, on one of Soho’s most trafficked blocks, is the latest of a panoply of Israeli companies that have opened up retail outlets here: Next door is Israeli soap and body-products purveyor Sabon, which has 11 stores in New York City and opened its first U.S. store a decade ago. The Michal Negrin boutique is also just down the block from Israeli-owned Café Bari, and a couple of blocks away from Aroma Espresso Bar, which has four cafes in Manhattan and six more in other heavily Jewish parts of the country. But this part of Soho — call it Nachalat Binyamin West — may have the densest concentration of Israeli retail outlets anywhere in the U.S.

Israeli products are increasingly found in the most prosaic American retail establishments. Sodastream seltzer makers are sold in Wal-Mart, Costco and Bed, Bath & Beyond, big-box stores ubiquitous along the sides of American highways. Ahava body creams and beauty products are also sold by Bed, Bath & Beyond, as well as Macy’s and Lord & Taylor department stores, along with the Ulta and Ricky’s beauty supply stores and many dozens of independent pharmacies, even in Arkansas and North Dakota.

Despite the efforts of BDS groups to generate boycotts of products manufactured beyond the Green Line, even Israeli companies that do some of their manufacturing there are finding retail success.

And the Israeliness of many of the products, like Sodastream, is not an overt part of their identity here.

Sodastream, which began selling its seltzer makers in the U.S. in 2002, has more penetration in consumer markets here than any other Israeli product, according to Joseph Altobello, a consumer and household products analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., a U.S.-based investment bank with an office in Tel Aviv.

“Sodastream is the only Israeli name that I would know of” among Israeli products sold in the U.S., Altobello said in an interview. The “Israeli label is neutral. The vast majority of people would view it neither good nor bad. Products succeed on their merits. There are some groups that have issues, but overall, I’ve never had anyone say I’m not buying a Sodastream because it’s an Israeli company. Ever. Where a product is made matters far less than ‘does it make sense for me in my life at this price point?’“

===how Israel has an 'impenetrable' security fence
that is 'protecting' us from terror attacks. You know, the one the world refers to as the 'wall.' And I've been telling you for years that it's all a lie, and that what protects us from terror attacks is God, and God helping the IDF to root out terrorists on the ground in Judea and Samaria.

Want proof? Here's a video showing 'Palestinians' jogging through a hole in the fence just off the Sansana-Metar road. The road is located northeast of Beer Sheva and southwest of Hevron. Arabs from the 'Palestinian Authority' usually cross the fence in order to work in Israel illegally, but there is nothing preventing terrorists from entering Israel in the same way. Motorists have been reporting the breach in the fence for months to no avail.>===

At great personal cost, Pollard penned the piece out of love for Israel and a genuine concern for its future. His words, whether you agree with them or not, were intended to sound a clarion call for an end to moral ambiguity and a restoration of sound values.

===both sides in Egypt
are blaming Israel for what's happening there. How convenient.... It's the only thing on which they can agree.>===

Scandal after scandal, coupled with an ongoing contempt for the law and the Constitution, demonstrated by high-level officials and the president himself, point to one deeply troubling conclusion: the Obama administration may be the most corrupt administration ever inflicted on the American public. And while the mainstream media have done a remarkable job deflecting much of that reality, even they cannot keep up with the avalanche of disturbing revelations that arise, seemingly on a daily basis.

We begin with yet another report about the Fast and Furious gunrunning operation, courtesy of Sharyl Attkisson, one of the few remaining reporters who follows a story wherever it goes. Last Wednesday, three more F&F weapons turned up at crime scenes in Mexico. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and as many as 300 Mexican nationals, including teens at a birthday party, were slaughtered by those weapons. Yet the ensuing investigation was first thwarted by Eric Holder’s refusal to turn over critical documents to congressional investigators, earning him a contempt of Congress citation. It was followed by President Obama invoking executive privilege to prevent the same. Other documents reveal that Eric Holder lied to Congress about when he first heard about the operation. The House Oversight Committee is currently suing for release of the material, but both Holder and Obama remain unscathed by this deadly debacle, even as the Terry family’s effort to find out what really happened to their son has been ignored.

===The conclusion is that The Forward believes that Israel is inherently evil. Those are the only facts that can fit its editorial policy. Anything that contradicts that narrative makes reporters not just feel conflicted, but angry. Because they already knew the truth before the story that makes Israelis look like decent people comes out. That is an unacceptable distraction from their own one-dimensional analysis of the situation.

Beyond that, we can see how bad a reporter Goldman is. In the earlier part of the article she describes how she feels "manipulated" when she covers a story that the Israeli government tips her (and other journalists) off about. So what is stopping her from digging deeper? Moreover, what is stopping her from looking to find out if there are similar "feel-good" human interest stories that are not pushed by the government?

That's crazy talk! To Goldman and The Forward, Israeli cruelty is the only story, and everything else is a distraction, to be ignored or downplayed or belittled or cynically dismissed.
===

Palestinian children as young as 5 are being taught to hate Jews, glorify martyrs and support jihad, and a U.S.-funded United Nations agency is helping to underwrite the effort, according to a controversial new documentary.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency hosts summer camps in which Palestinian children are allegedly being indoctrinated, in scenes captured in “Camp Jihad: Inside UNRWA Summer Camp Season 2013.” In addition to learning hateful phrases, the children are taught that Israel belongs to them by birthright, according to the film by the Center for Near East Policy Research.

The relevant UN General Assembly document from Oct. 23, 1950 states the following about the Palestinian refugee problem:

The estimate of the statistical expert, which the Committee believes to be as accurate as circumstances permit, indicates that the refugees from Israel-controlled territory amount to approximately 711,000.

Anti-Israel extremists recently began threatening and disrupting the activities of an Israeli-owned shop in Brighton. The UK-based store, EcoStream, is known to sell SodaStream recyclable bottles which are made in Mishor Adumim, an industrial zone located in post-1967 Israeli territory. According to the group "Palestine Solidarity Campaign," these business activities take part inside "occupied Palestinian territory" and therefore the shop, as well as SodaStream, should be boycotted. Last week, EcoStream employees found the lock on the front door of their shop to be filled with superglue. SodaSteam employs over 160 Palestinians in its main factory. According to media reports, the store's general manager has said that "it's not acceptable that these people can continue to do this. Something more needs to be done." Local anti-Israel operatives have promised to continue picketing the store in order to discourage local people from patronizing it.
===

Dr. Waldman: “This creature of yours should be kept under guard. Mark my words. He will prove dangerous.”Dr. Henry Frankenstein: Dangerous! Poor old Waldman. Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous?….Dr. Waldman: You’re young, my friend. Your success has intoxicated you. Wake up and look facts in the face! Here we have a fiend whose brain…Dr. Henry Frankenstein: “The brain must be given time to develop. It’s a perfectly good brain, doctor. You ought to know. It came from your own laboratory.”Dr. Waldman (shocked): “You used the brain in my laboratory! But you’ve mistakenly implanted a criminal brain in this creature.” –”Frankenstein” (1931)

A .440 life-time batting average would make one a hall-of-fame player if one was playing major league baseball. But Obamacare "aint' baseball and meeting only 44% of your own deadlines is pretty poor when one considers this is the Obama's signature legislation.
===<This is the triumph of illusion, required because reality doesn't comport with the liberal, democratic Western standard in which every difference can be split. The reality is that Israeli fights every day against people dedicated it its destruction as a sovereign entity. Reality is ugly, so the West pretends we're only a minute or two, an Israeli concession or two, a settlement or two from Israeli-Palestinian "peace.">
===

Fatah's official Facebook page continues to promote and glorify violence and terror for children. In one post, young Palestinian boys are shown holding rifles with the text:

"The children of Palestine - this is how they celebrated their holiday."

===Hi Everyone! I have some new news for you! As you know, I have been using this page as a general purpose place for sharing everything I do, which is mostly photography related, but also includes my musical side and the family stuff as well. Meanwhile, I have a photo fan page that has been ignored and not updated during the past year... or two. That all ends today. From this point on, I'll be taking my cues from my talented friendCaryn Hill who lets people know when she updates to her fan page through her main page. I think it's a great way to keep my friends and family and everyone else up to date on what I'm up to in a more organized way. That said, my page here will still get uploads, but they might be a little different. Take today's for example. I am starting a picture diary of my travels which I'll call the Highlander Diaries. Like this picture, the images will show places I've been traveling to, with my silver SUV somewhere in the frame. So, with that said, I will now start working and updating the other page, and hopfully you will all continue to follow my adventures and the imags that come from them.

The Yeshiva University A Capella group, Maccabeats, has come up with another fantastic Jewish Music hit. The song Lecha Dodi comes out of the Friday night Shabbos prayer service. Enjoy this masterpiece from a group of the most beautiful and talented Jewish voices you will ever hear!

International law is on Israel's side. Watch the video to understand why!

This must be one of the best video presentations that clearly explains international law and the legal case for Israel and Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria. Definitely watch this to have a better understanding of international law so you can talk about Israel's situation intelligently with others.

Thank you for caring about Israel. Here is a new tool we have developed for people like you to stay up-to-date with important videos with the latest news in Israel. Sign Up Here!

International law is on Israel's side. Watch the video to understand why!

This must be one of the best video presentations that clearly explains international law and the legal case for Israel and Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria. Definitely watch this to have a better understanding of international law so you can talk about Israel's situation intelligently with others.

Thank you for caring about Israel. Here is a new tool we have developed for people like you to stay up-to-date with important videos with the latest news in Israel. Sign Up Here!

Have you noticed how prices have sky rocketed in the last six years? Thanks to Kevin Rudd and Labor everything from electricity, gas, education, and medical services has gone up significantly. And Labor and the Greens made things far worse when they introduced their Carbon Tax.

We've created a Facebook app that is a Cost of Labor Calculator, so you can plug in your expenses and see just how much extra this Labor government has cost you.

Our household budgets are stretched thinner and thinner under Labor, making it more difficult and more costly for all Australians.

If you want real change with reduced living costs through the abolition of the carbon tax, we need your support at the polls on September 7th.

1942 – Holocaust in Chortkiav, western Ukraine: At 2.30 am the German Schutzpolizei starts driving Jews out of their houses, divides them into groups of 120, packs them in freight cars and deports 2000 to Belzec death camp. 500 of the sick and children are murdered on the spot.

Morning

Faith, in the Scripture, is spoken of under the emblem of all the senses. It is sight: "Look unto me and be ye saved." It is hearing: "Hear, and your soul shall live." Faith is smelling: "All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia"; "thy name is as ointment poured forth." Faith is spiritual touch. By this faith the woman came behind and touched the hem of Christ's garment, and by this we handle the things of the good word of life. Faith is equally the spirit's taste. "How sweet are thy words to my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my lips." "Except a man eat my flesh," saith Christ, "and drink my blood, there is no life in him."

This "taste" is faith in one of its highest operations. One of the first performances of faith is hearing. We hear the voice of God, not with the outward ear alone, but with the inward ear; we hear it as God's Word, and we believe it to be so; that is the "hearing" of faith. Then our mind looketh upon the truth as it is presented to us; that is to say, we understand it, we perceive its meaning; that is the "seeing" of faith. Next we discover its preciousness; we begin to admire it, and find how fragrant it is; that is faith in its "smell." Then we appropriate the mercies which are prepared for us in Christ; that is faith in its "touch." Hence follow the enjoyments, peace, delight, communion; which are faith in its "taste." Any one of these acts of faith is saving. To hear Christ's voice as the sure voice of God in the soul will save us; but that which gives true enjoyment is the aspect of faith wherein Christ, by holy taste, is received into us, and made, by inward and spiritual apprehension of his sweetness and preciousness, to be the food of our souls. It is then we sit "under his shadow with great delight," and find his fruit sweet to our taste.

Evening

These words may answer your scruples, devout reader, concerning the ordinances. Perhaps you say, "I should be afraid to be baptized; it is such a solemn thing to avow myself to be dead with Christ, and buried with him. I should not feel at liberty to come to the Master's table; I should be afraid of eating and drinking damnation unto myself, not discerning the Lord's body." Ah! poor trembler, Jesus has given you liberty, be not afraid. If a stranger came to your house, he would stand at the door, or wait in the hall; he would not dream of intruding unbidden into your parlour--he is not at home: but your child makes himself very free about the house; and so is it with the child of God. A stranger may not intrude where a child may venture. When the Holy Ghost has given you to feel the spirit of adoption, you may come to Christian ordinances without fear. The same rule holds good of the Christian's inward privileges. You think, poor seeker, that you are not allowed to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; if you are permitted to get inside Christ's door, or sit at the bottom of his table, you will be well content. Ah! but you shall not have less privileges than the very greatest. God makes no difference in his love to his children. A child is a child to him; he will not make him a hired servant; but he shall feast upon the fatted calf, and shall have the music and the dancing as much as if he had never gone astray. When Jesus comes into the heart, he issues a general licence to be glad in the Lord. No chains are worn in the court of King Jesus. Our admission into full privileges may be gradual, but it is sure. Perhaps our reader is saying, "I wish I could enjoy the promises, and walk at liberty in my Lord's commands." "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." Loose the chains of thy neck, O captive daughter, for Jesus makes thee free.

Today's Old Testament reading: Psalm 119:1-88

1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,who walk according to the law of the LORD.2 Blessed are those who keep his statutesand seek him with all their heart-3 they do no wrongbut follow his ways.4 You have laid down preceptsthat are to be fully obeyed.5 Oh, that my ways were steadfastin obeying your decrees!6 Then I would not be put to shamewhen I consider all your commands.7 I will praise you with an upright heartas I learn your righteous laws.8 I will obey your decrees;do not utterly forsake me....

Today's New Testament reading: 1 Corinthians 7:20-40

20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you-although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord's freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ's slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. 24 Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

Concerning the Unmarried

25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27 Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this....

The son of Simon the Cyrenian who was compelled to carry the cross of Christ (Mark 15:21).

A leading man in Jerusalemwhen Peter and John were tried there (Acts 4:6).

A convert of Paul's who was present at the Ephesian tumult. Perhaps the same as No. 1 ( Acts 19:33).

A convert to Christianity who became an apostate (1 Tim. 1:20). Perhaps the same as No. 6.

Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, who followed his father Philip and who also brought the Jews into contact with Greek literature and life. He is described though not named in Daniel 2:39 and 6:6.

The coppersmith who opposed Paul ( 2 Tim. 4:14 ). This Ephesian Jew was likely the same as the one who corrupted the faith, not from ignorance but deliberately in opposition to his judgment. Dr. Alexander Whyte deals with No. 4 and No. 6 as the same person.

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her (Ruth 1:16-18, NIV).

Friend To Friend

Friendship is the catalyst for every other love and the foundation of every healthy relationship. In his book, "The Broken Heart", Dr. James J. Lynch shows that lonely people live significantlyshorter lives than the general population. In other words, God created us to need each other. We need friends.

I know what you are thinking. Everyone knows that having close friends is risky business. While attending seminary, one of my professors told me that, as a pastor's wife, I would never be able to have close friends in the church. I didn't believe him then. And I don't believe him now.

I have been a woman in ministry for many years and my best friends have always been with women in the church where I ministered. Have I been burned? Yes. Have I been betrayed and disappointed? Yes. Has it been worth it? Absolutely! It is my prayer that over the next few weeks, we will catch God's plan and purpose for the friendships in our lives. But before launching into this study, there are three friendship facts we must first understand and accept.

Fact 1: Friendships have many different levels. There are friends we see occasionally and then there are soul-mates with whom we share everything. There is a place for both in our lives.

Fact 2: Friendships may change with the seasons of life. We are naturally drawn to women who face the same problems and share the same dreams.

Fact 3: We all need friends. Friendship is part of God's plan for our lives.

Jesus placed great value on relationships. The Bible tells us that He spent much of His time deepening relationships with a few - not the crowds. His teachings are filled with practical suggestions on how to be a friend and how to have healthy relationships. One of the most beautiful portraits of friendship is found in the book of Ruth. It is the story of Naomi, a godly woman, a wife and the mother of two married sons.

Naomi's husband and sons died, leaving three women alone, Naomi and her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah. Because they had neither food nor money and no certainty of what the future might hold, Naomi chose to return to Bethlehem, her homeland. On the way, Naomi suddenly stopped to tell Ruth and Orpah that they should return to their homes in Moab because there, they would have the chance to marry again. Both Ruth and Orpah protested but Naomi was insistent. Finally, Orpah gave in and returned home, but Ruth would not leave Naomi, her mother-in-law and friend. Noami was amazed at the loyalty Ruth offered and together, they made the trip to Bethlehem. Interestingly, it was there that Ruth met and married Boaz. They had a son named Obed, who later became the grandfather of King David. Ruth, a gentile from Moab, became part of the family line of Jesus. Why? Ruth was a loyal friend. Wouldn't you like to have a friend like that? Wouldn't you like to be a friend like that? The lives of Ruth and Naomi offer nine keys to healthy and vital friendships.

First Key: Time

Ruth says, "Where you go I will go. Where you stay I will stay." Ruth was willing to commit her life and time in friendship. Friendship doesn't just happen. True friendship takes consistent investments of time. Time spent together in friendship creates a memory bank from which we can make withdrawals when tough times come and we need encouragement. Time is a priceless gift and one of the most powerful communicators of love. When we are willing to give 30 minutes of time, we are actually giving 30 minutes of life. Ruth was willing to sacrifice her entire life agenda for the sake of her friendship with Naomi.

We live in a "quick-fix" world that often fails to understand or address the relationship truth that it takes time to build a friendship. It is so easy for women to fill every time slot of every day with activity, leaving little or no room for friends. The waters of daily life are often difficult to navigate. True friends are willing to get in the boat and ride out the storm with us.

We tend to spend time instead of investing it. The depth of the friendship depends upon the investment of time we can make or the investment of time we are willing to make. I have a friend, Michelle Johnson, who is the perfect example of a friend who was willing to invest time in our relationship. Michelle and I first met at a church where she and her husband were small group teachers while Dan was the youth pastor. We were not especially close because our paths rarely crossed. But when Dan was called to be the pastor of a nearby church, Michelle and her family joined us in ministry. Our children were in school together and we were both involved in women's ministry. As our paths crossed more frequently, we became friends. Then, during a two-year battle with clinical depression, we moved into the neighborhood where Michelle and Jay lived. Michelle made a choice. She chose to invest large chunks of time, walking with me through those dark years. As a result, her friendship is beyond measure in my life. Friendships take time.

Let's Pray

Father, I want to thank You for being the ultimate Friend. You have never let me down or turned away from me - even when I have turned away from You. Please help me be the kind of friend You want me to be so that Your love can flow through me in my relationships. Teach me how to invest time wisely so that each friendship is a living illustration of Your love.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Now It's Your Turn

What is the greatest hindrance to friendship in your life?

What has been the greatest reward of friendship in your life?

Are you willing to take the risk of cultivating intimate friendships and of being a true friend? Explain.

Make a list of your closest friends and then picture life without them. What would that picture look like?

Make a specific plan this week to invest time in the life of a friend.

More From The Girlfriends

Looking for a Bible Study that is both practical and powerful? Check out Mary's E-Book Bible Studies. Each one includes a study guide that you can download for your personal use or for a small group study. I Need a Friend is available in Bible Study format.

Be sure to check out Mary's weekly Online Bible Study: Stress Management 101. Enroll now and have access to all 2011 lessons. Need a friend? Connect with Mary on Facebook or through email.

"...and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10 (NIV)

Have you ever seen the social injustices of the world and felt they were too big for you to make a difference? I have felt that way. So instead of doing something-even something small, I did nothing.

Recently, several friends and I spent almost a week living at the Dream Center in Los Angeles. The Dream Center is a converted hospital run by Pastor Matthew Barnett and his church, Angelus Temple. It is a 700 bed facility that is a homeless shelter, a drug rehab, a healing place for those rescued from sex trafficking, an education facility and a ministry hub for over 120 outreach programs to help people in need.

I went as a woman in ministry.

I went to help meet needs.

But I quickly realized I was there as a woman in need.

A woman who needed God's reality to fall fresh and heavy and close and real and too in my face to deny.

Because sometimes I find myself talking about God so much He becomes an identity marker but not an identity changer in my life.

Having God as an identity marker is nothing but a label, a language, and a lifestyle. I'm a Christian. I talk like one. I act like one.

But having God as an identity changer is something so much more. It's lavish abandon to who God is and who He's made me to be. Holding nothing back.

Only lavish abandon to God can do what I saw at the Dream Center.

It's what changed the ex-gang member with eight bullet hole scars into a Jesus loving servant. So gentle.

It's what changed the ex-prostitute into a counselor for girls being rescued from the streets. So pure.

It's what changed the ex-drug addict into a loving father teaching his son how to be a godly leader. So integrity filled.

What in heavens has been holding me back?

Seriously.

What has been stopping me from absolute lavish abandon to God?

I need to know.

I'm desperate to figure it out.

So, I asked Pastor Matthew-a man who lives this lavish abandon, "Aren't you afraid sometimes? You run a facility where you have to raise half-million dollars a month-a MONTH! Do you walk around with the weight of that on you all the time?"

And his answer cracked my heart wide open. "No. When you experience God the way I've been experiencing God for 17 years, you stop being afraid. I've seen too many miracles."

Oh. Tears. The woman who doesn't cry was flooded with a crack in the dam of her soul.

My. God. That. Is. It.

Pastor Matthew lives our key verse from Isaiah 58:10. He spends himself in behalf of the hungry and oppressed. And honest to goodness I've never seen someone so happy, so positive, so on fire for the things of God. Like our verse, his light rises in the darkness.

He sees the miracles therefore he dares to be part of them.

I can't say the same about myself and I'm challenged by this.

I've stopped positioning my life for miracles. In an effort to never make God look bad, I've sought only that which I can carefully measure and predict and manipulate into being.

God, help me.

God, forgive me.

If I truly want to be a woman who lives by faith, I must live a life that requires a little bit of faith.

Fresh faith.

The kind that changes everything.

The kind the Dream Center is built upon.

I want to be part of the miracles happening at the Dream Center. And I'd love to invite you to join me. Dare to dream sweet friend...read more about this simple but profound opportunity below.

Dear Lord, I want fresh faith. The kind of faith that positions my heart to experience you. I don't want to be held back. Even if it's in a small way, I want to be available and willing to help those oppressed. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Related Resources:Visit Lysa's blog to read more about her "Dare to Dream" Gift Card campaign. You will have the opportunity to write a letter of encouragement and enclose a gift card that will be used to help women in the rescue and rehab programs through the Dream Center.

Lysa's book, What Happens When Women Say Yes to God now has a 6 week DVD teaching series that is perfect for women's Bible Study groups. For more informationclick here.

When you purchase resources through Proverbs 31 Ministries, you touch eternity because your purchase supports the many areas of hope-giving ministry we provide at no cost. We wish we could, but we simply can't compete with prices offered by huge online warehouses. Therefore, we are extremely grateful for each and every purchase you make with us. Thank you!

Application Steps:If we truly want to be women who live by faith, we must live a life that requires a little bit of faith. What does that look like for you today? This week? This month?

Reflections:Having God as an identity marker is nothing but a label, a language, and a lifestyle. I'm a Christian. I talk like one. I act like one. But having God as an identity changer is something so much more. It's lavish abandon to who God is and who He's made me to be. Holding nothing back.

Power Verses:Isaiah 58:6-8, "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard." (NIV)

The Reality of Revelry

While this expression came from 19th-century English composer Frederick Delius, it could easily describe King David's attitude toward worship.

The people around David probably grew accustomed to his musical outbursts. After all, it was King David-much to the chagrin of Saul's daughter-who "[danced] before the LORD with all his might" (2 Samuel 6:14). Moreover, David wrote many of the psalms. We can imagine the shepherd-king in his bedchamber at night strumming his harp and composing another song to the Lord. Yet David was hardly a soloist in the family of God.

The whole Bible reverberates with the songs of people so enraptured by God's work that their day-to-day lives gave way to melody. Moses and Miriam harmonized praise after God had led his people out of Egypt (see Exodus 15:1-21). Solomon crooned his way through Song of Songs, celebrating the marriage relationship between a husband and wife. Isaiah offered a prophetic song from the coming choir of the new Jerusalem (see Isaiah 26). Mary, when told that she would give birth to the Son of God, lifted a song to the child's Father in heaven (see Luke 1:46-55). Paul and Silas shouted their praise, and God split the walls of their cellblock (see Acts 16:25-26). The Bible is full of the songs of God's people.

What does this Biblical legacy of song say about us? We sing, as Moses, David and Mary sang, because God is worthy of song. When David opened his song (see 2 Samuel 22), the attributes of God came streaming out of the king's mouth so quickly that he barely formed sentences-my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my shield, my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge.

Like David, may we be so overcome by the knowledge of God that our natural response is to burst forth in song. May we sing from a heart-knowledge of God-longing after him with our greatest affections and deepest desires.

To Take Away

When in your life have you so keenly sensed God's presence that you could have burst forth into song?

How would you describe or rate your heart-knowledge of God?

What steps can you take to deepen your delight in the character of God?

What Prophetic Details Exist About Jesus' Crucifixion?

After Jesus rose from the dead, he reminded his disciples how he had told them, "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms" (Luke 24:44). Psalm 69:21 specifically foreshadows how Jesus would receive gall and vinegar at his crucifixion. First he was offered wine mixed with gall, which was to help alleviate pain. Jesus rejected the painkiller (see Matthew 27:32-34), choosing instead to drink the full cup of suffering his Father had given him (see John 18:11). Later, just before he died, Jesus cried out in thirst and was given wine vinegar to drink (see John 19:28-30).

Jesus was well aware of the Messianic prophecies, and he fulfilled each one-even one as specific as this one-involving gall and vinegar-buried here in the Psalms.

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About Me

I'm author of History in a Year by the Conservative Voice aka History of the World in a Year by the Conservative Voice.

I'm the Conservative Voice.

I'm looking to make contact with those who might use my skill.

I have an m-audio mobile pre amp fed by the audiotechnica 2041sp condensor mic pack. Prior to 15/4/06, I'd used a Shure sm-58 that required a nuclear blast to register a sound or the internal mic of my aged imac, which has a penchance to recording my breathing. I also used a Griffin itrip, until the community convinced me it was not hiding my talent as well as the other mics.

I am a Writer and an occasional Math Teacher (Sir, what's the occasion?). I like to sing, having no instrumental talent (cannot even clap in time, and yes, I'm aware singing badly IS obnoxious).

I have performed the finale to Les Miserables before an audience of 500. I have also sung before a similar audience (students, parents) renditions of 'I Will' (Beatles), 'Mr Cairo' (Jon Vangelis) and 'I am Australian' (Seekers). Now I seek another profession because the audience hates me ..